


Gifts

by ApostateRevolutionary



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, FWP, Fluff, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-12 04:45:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3344093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApostateRevolutionary/pseuds/ApostateRevolutionary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawke finds out about Anders' name-day, even though he's tried so hard to hide it and insist it's not important, and decides to try to make it matter for him again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gifts

The 12th of Wintermarch.

Hawke had made note of that day, committing it to memory. She’d planned for weeks, determined to make it count. It was Anders’ name-day after all, and even if he didn’t think of it as anything special, she did. And she wanted to show him that it did matter, that _he_ mattered.

It’d been a stroke of luck she’d even discovered it. Isabela had been talking about some of the traditions Rivaini seers had, one of which involved relating one’s personality to the day they were born. Merrill had found the idea fascinating, and insisted she did the prediction for everyone in the room. Anders had only reluctantly agreed, barely stopping himself from explaining how there’s no way it could be accurate, that such holidays were irrelevant, and all of that, but Hawke had been playing close attention. She’d asked before, but her lover had refused to reveal it, insisting it wasn’t important. Until that moment, of course.

She’d been thinking about it since then, waiting for the day to come. Hawke wasn’t going to make a big spectacle of it, of course, because she knew he wouldn’t want that. She’d made him promise to come to the estate tonight, though why he didn’t just stay every night was beyond her, and she was just going to treat him to a nice relaxing evening, complete with a gift. She stared at the box now, the one she’d so carefully (yet somehow still sloppily) wrapped in fancy decorative paper, smiling to herself.

“Andraste’s knickers, it’s cold!” Hawke’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and Anders’ cursing.

She met her dear apostate as he shuffled into the entryway, shivering and holding his arms close to him. There were some snowflakes melting in his hair, and his cheeks and nose had been reddened by the cold.

“No wonder you’re cold. What happened to your cloak?” Hawke asked, leaning against the doorway with crossed arms, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“Ah, sorry I’m late, love. Darktown is freezing this time of year, and there were some kids… They didn’t even have a blanket to sleep under. They needed the cloak more than I did.” he said, dressed only in his usual feathered coat.

“Maker’s breath, Anders. Your kindness will be the death of you.” She said as she came closer, pulling him in for a light kiss.

“Well, kindness isn’t exactly a bad way to go.” He said as he broke away, smirking slightly.

Hawke just rolled her eyes, gently pulling him up the stairs and to the hearth in her room so he could warm up a bit. She called for Bodahn to get Anders some tea, to help speed up the process.

“How bad it is it in your clinic?” Hawke asked, concerned, once she had him seated him in front of the fire and his tea had arrived.

“It’s cold, just like everywhere else down there. I’ve tried my best to keep some small fires lit, and it seems to keep my patients warm.” He answered, holding his hands out towards the flames.

“What about you?” She continued, knowing he made a point of not mentioning himself whenever she asked questions like this.

He looked at her now, his amber eyes soft in the firelight. “I’m fine, love, really. I could use a better blanket, something warmer and less scratchy, but I’m doing much better than most people down there.”

Hawke felt her heart swell at the mention of that, and she had to suppress a grin. She’d made the correct choice after all.

“Funny you should mention that…” She said, knowing full well a smirk had leaked through.

Anders just looked at her quizzically, so she went and grabbed the poorly-wrapped box she’d hidden in the library, sitting down next to him.

“What is this?” He asked, almost warily.

“Don’t you know what day it is?” Hawke asked, smiling fully now.

He thought for a moment, and then shook his head.

She had to stifle a laugh. “Really? You forgot your own name-day?”

At that, Anders’ eyes widened slightly, followed by him letting out a small groan. “Hawke, I told you it wasn’t important. Please don’t tell me you’ve arranged for a party or something.”

She noted the genuine worry in his voice. “Of course not! I know you better than that. All I’ve arranged for is a relaxing night at home, just the two of us. Plus a little something.”

She held out the box more insistently, and he took it. Anders almost looked suspicious as he began to unwrap the paper, politely not commenting on how poorly it was done. Hawke had tried, of course, but she was not exactly the kind of person suited to ‘delicate’ tasks.

His eyes widened again as he opened the box, pulling out the gift she’d so carefully picked out. It was a blanket, the warmest she could find in Kirkwall, more than big enough to fit her bed, let alone his tiny little cot in the clinic, and oh, was it ever _soft_. Anders took a moment to feel the fabric, seeming to marvel at the softness, before looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Hawke, I…” He managed.

She just smiled at him, then inched closer and wordlessly pulled the blanket around them both. It was indeed very warm, and she relaxed against him, furrowing her brow when she felt how tense he was.

“Anders, what’s wrong?” Hawke asked, looking up to see him with a troubled expression.

“Hawke, I know you’re just being nice but… Really, I don’t deserve this. You don’t need to go to all this trouble just for me…” Anders trailed off, not meeting her eyes.

The Champion reached a hand up passed the blanket to gently cradle his cheek, bringing his gaze back to hers.

“Anders, I love you. I _want_ to go to ‘all this trouble’. You more than deserve this. That’s why I wanted to do something for you today. To show you how much you matter.” She said, smiling gently.

“Really, I don’t–” Anders started, but the warning look Hawke gave him must have worked.

“Anders, let me say it again. I care about you. You’re important to me. I want to do nice things for you.” She said, watching him closely as he started to accept her words.

After a moment, his face softened, a small smile forming. “Thank you, love. It means so much for you to constantly look out for me like this.”

Hawke smiled at that, snuggling closer to him again. “You’re welcome. I figured you were less likely to say no to something practical, and given the weather it looks like I made the right choice. Though I almost got you that gold earring you’d been eyeing in the shops instead.”

Anders seemed surprised at that. “It’s funny you should mention that… This is now the second time anyone’s given me a gift since I was taken to the Circle.”

She was listening intently now. “Only the second time?”

“Yes. We didn’t celebrate name-days in the Circle. That’s why I always told you it didn’t matter, because it had never mattered before. Well, except once.” She watched as he stared into the fire, his mind faraway.

“Karl. He gave me a gift once, on the name-day before I escaped the last time. It was a gold earring, just like the one in the market. Maker only knows how he managed to get it, but I loved it. He helped my pierce my ear that night, in secret, long after we were supposed to be sleeping. It’s a lot easier when you can use magic to speed up the healing.” He gave her a wry smile. “I-I lost it… In the Deep Roads, when I was with the Wardens. I knew I should’ve taken it out, put it on a chain around my neck or something, but I was careless.”

Anders paused then, and Hawke pulled him closer to her, essentially bringing him into her lap. She knew how much Karl had meant to him, and that it couldn’t be easy talking about this.

“I keep wishing I could buy it, but my money is better spent on more important things. So it’s just nice to look, to remember. Karl’s gone now, anyways.” He finished, the distant look still in his eyes.

“I understand. It’s probably better I didn’t buy it then. I wouldn’t want you to think I was trying to take his place.” She said, idly playing with his hair.

He looked up at her now, seemingly worried. “Oh, no, it’s not like that. A reminder would be nice, but you don’t need to spend all that money on me. You’re already too kind.”

The Champion resisted the urge to deny that, and instead smirked slightly. “Well, in that case, I could just go get it for you tomorrow.”

Anders sat up. “Hawke–”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the how concerned he was about that. “Anders, I was kidding. I know you wouldn’t let me get you another gift so early. I figured I’d have to wait more than a day.”

Her lover, apparently relieved, leaned in to kiss her lightly at that. He was smiling as he pulled away.

“Yes, I think you can handle waiting more than one day. Perhaps you could even make it a week.” He said, his smile turning to a smirk.

“We’ll have to see about that.” She replied, grabbing his collar and pulling him into another, deeper kiss.

The kiss became a dozen shorter ones as she ran her hands down his sides, both their minds clearly going to the same place when Hawke remembered something important. Opening her eyes wide and breaking the kiss, she gently hit her hand against his chest. Anders just looked at her, confused.

“There’s one more thing.” She said, grinning now.

“And what’s that?” He asked, obviously hoping it was something unimportant so they could return to their previous activities.

“There’s a cake waiting downstairs. And before you ask, no, I didn’t bake it this time. Couldn’t risk a repeat of the last disaster on such an important day.” She responded, climbing out of the warmth of the blanket and running towards the stairs.

Anders shook his head, but he was smiling too, and he got up to follow her. The cake was excellent, though far too large for the couple even after giving a large piece to Sandal. And Hawke didn’t fail to notice the way Anders was smiling throughout the evening. He may not have thought his name-day mattered before, but she was ready to call her plan to change that a victory. Her success was only further confirmed later that night, as she was falling asleep, when she heard a whispered ‘Thank you’ followed by a gentle kiss to her shoulder.

And, as promised, Anders did not receive a gold earring the following day. In fact, he’d nearly forgotten about that part of the discussion until, exactly a week later, a small box was delivered to his clinic, which contained the exact earring he’d been eyeing for so long. He sighed, shaking his head slightly, but couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face as he put the ring through his ear lobe, feeling as though something long gone had finally been restored.


End file.
